Kindred Spirits
by DarkElements10
Summary: Katie gets the opportunity to understand that she's more than just 'Kendall's little sister'. She can really change someone's life. [For Ethan on Twitter].


**Kindred Spirits**

**By: Riley**

**Summary – Katie gets the opportunity to understand that she's more than just 'Kendall's little sister'. She can really change someone's life and be changed in the process.**

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**This was a one-shot suggestion/request from my friend, Ethan after we had seen a video of Ciara going to the Cincinnati Children's Medical Hospital and talking to some of the residents there.  
**

* * *

Katie's eyes widened in disbelief as her mother's words finally registered with her. Then she started to laugh. Mrs. Knight continued to look at Katie with that same, calm, serene expression on her face, waiting for Katie to use her words rather than continue laughing. It wasn't such a preposterous idea; more that it usually didn't come to people that were of Katie's position: relatively unknown.

"I don't see what's so funny, Katie," Mrs. Knight said, leaning back on the couch.

She brought her hands up, resting them on the back of the couch as Katie sat in front of her on the edge of the coffee table. She had thought she was in trouble at first, her mother having called her into the room and motioning for her to sit down on the table. The only time she had her, Kendall, or any of the boys sit down in front of her like that, so close that you could see each flash of emotion through their eyes, there was usually something serious that needed to be said.

Katie wracked her brain as she left her room and went over to her mother. What had she done in the past couple of days that would have gotten her in trouble? She hadn't gotten caught playing poker with the housing staff. Bitters hadn't told on her for running a betting system when that big football game was on TV, dividing those that lived in the Palm Woods, she made sure of that. Even Kendall wasn't dumb enough to tell on her for having taken Mrs. Knight's car to practice driving when no one else would take her. It was her mother's cherry red convertible so it would have been a big deal if she found out.

But that wasn't it. Instead, she was told that she was wanted to go to Children's Hospital Los Angeles to meet some of the patients as well as read to them. Yes, they wanted Big Time Rush and the DarkElements there as well, but she was the one they wanted the most. And the thought alone made Katie laugh. Who would want to meet her? She wasn't famous. She wasn't special. She was just a sixteen year old girl who was trying to get her driver's license, trying to keep her relationship with her first boyfriend from getting boring, and dealing with the antics that her brother and his crazy friends managed to get into day after day.

"I'm not laughing at the hospital Mom," Katie quickly intervened. She tucked a loose chunk of hair behind her ear. "I'm…I'm laughing that they want _me _there." She shrugged, bobbing her head back and forth. "Well, we all know I would have gone anyway, but why would they want me? They have the guys and the Jacksons, that place is going to go nuts with just them there."

Mrs. Knight gave Katie a wry smile. "Are you sure that the Jacksons would actually go?"

Katie tried not to laugh. It wasn't funny, not really, but she had to admit it was slightly amusing. The Jacksons had always hated hospitals; they did their best to avoid them like the plague. Whenever they had to go for a physical they would have to practically get dragged from the car by their feet to be forced inside. It was funnier to her considering she was dating Patrick, the middle child, bass player, rockstar extraordinaire, who was so afraid of needles that he had to practically get strapped down each time he got a new tattoo.

She shook her head, suddenly wondering why she still referred to them as 'Jacksons' when they had changed their name to 'Jackson-McGuire' after being adopted by their music producer but that wasn't the point. The point was that she was being asked to go to a children's hospital to visit people like she was some sort of a celebrity. The thought alone made her want to roll her eyes. She was in no way a celebrity and didn't want to be treated that way.

She already had hundreds of people, fans of her brother, on Scuttle Butter tweeting her practically every day trying to get her to get her brother to follow them, or to send them a message, or to get their attention in any way. Sure, there were the few that she knew were there because they wanted to get to know her, but she couldn't help but think they wanted to find a way into her trust to get closer to her just for her brother. Why else would anyone want to be interested in her?

"I think it's a really good opportunity," Mrs. Knight continued, grasping Katie's attention once more. Katie paid close attention; she could hear the tiny hint of forcefulness in her tone. "I think it's something that will open your eyes to things going on around you." She waved an arm around the crib, what the guys had gotten done for them after their first apartment was so crappy. "This, in a way, was all handed to you and while you work hard to get everything else you want, you never know when it can all be ripped away from you."

"Mom?" Katie clasped her hands together, leaning towards her mother. She tilted her head to the side, effectively moving her hair out of her cherubic face. Katie's eyes narrowed for a moment. "Didn't Uncle Kane have cancer?" Mrs. Knight glanced at her and nodded. "Is that the kind of hospital that we're going to? For kids that are really sick? They won't get better?"

Mrs. Knight chuckled a little before reaching out and running her palm over Katie's cheek. "That's why I think you'd be great to go," she murmured. "You always worry about other people; you're so compassionate though I can't fathom it at times when you're so money hungry." Katie smiled, batting her mother's hand away. "This is just a regular children's hospital, yes some of them need more treatment than others, but not everyone is so sick. They're all excited to hear that you all are going to be there."

Katie smiled, turning away from her mother. She stood up; pulling her hair behind her ears then loosely crossed her arms. "I guess it won't be so bad, and it'll be cool to see some of these kids." She placed a hand on her chest, lightly tugging at the dog tags that hung around her neck.

"It's really humbling as well," Mrs. Knight agreed. She held up a finger, catching her daughter's attention. "Just…I want you to be aware that some things may be uncomfortable. Being around those that are sick can be really scary for some people and others don't deal with it well." She cleared her throat. "So I want you to remember to be nice and polite and try not to bring attention to the reason they're in the hospital."

"Don't worry Mom," Katie reassured her with a warm smile. "I'm not like Carlos."

Mrs. Knight laughed loudly as Katie walked into their shared room, closing the door behind her. Now she had to find something to wear…and give herself pep-talks so she didn't say anything stupid.

* * *

"No offense, but I'm surprised that you guys are willingly going to the children's hospital," Kendall said, leaning back in his seat. He dropped a napkin onto his empty plate, pushing it towards the center of the table. Tilting his head back, he angled his face towards the sun, sitting just out of the way of the awning that sat over the patio of _Here and Abroad. _"Considering every other time you have to go you nearly throw a tantrum."

"As long as there are not doctors chasing me around with needles I should be fine," Patrick said under his breath. Beside him, Katie laughed, quickly bringing up a hand to cover it. Patrick looked at his girlfriend out of the corner of his eye, his lips twitching. "It's not funny, Katie."

"Dude, it was," Katie protested. "Don't deny it." She back in her seat, crossing her legs, reaching down to carefully place the end of her skirt over her knees. Her eyes moved around the table, Kendall, Logan, Carlos, and James all sat on one side of the large round table they had occupied at the off the wall restaurant they had found the year before. "And, like Mom said, it's a good opportunity." She waved a hand over towards the Jacksons, who were sitting on the right side of the table. "Good for publicity."

"Our publicity stunts always have to do with our shows," Noah corrected her. "When it comes to our fans we're willing to do anything to help them out." He slouched down in his seat, stretching out his legs before reaching up and gently tugging at his snakebite piercing. "Besides, who knows how long these kids have been in the hospital?"

"Months maybe," Rhuben commented. She let a breath out of the side of her mouth, pushing her purple strand of hair out of her face. "Gustavo said that some of these kids are really sick so they had to basically drop out of school just to get better." She gently shook her head. "Such a shame, too. Ankle-biters are some of the better people on the planet."

"Well, think of it this way," James offered, holding out a hand. He was sitting straight up, keeping his posture as good as it could be. Apparently it was one of those things that he worked hard to keep to be sure he was getting the best out of his want to be famous. That along with his perfect teeth and perfect hair, he tried hard to make sure he was as perfect as possible to make sure his 'stock' as he put it, was continuously on the rise.

Katie looked down at her lap, frowning a little. Her nerves skyrocketed at that moment. They were having lunch before they went off to the children's hospital. What was she going to say to these kids? Sorry you're sick? That's exactly what they wanted to hear. She had agonized about it all the night before, tossing and turning, waking up at all hours of the night. Her mother had woken up; asking if everything was ok and Katie had reassured her that things were fine. They were fine alright, if you thought that feeling like you wanted to puke was fine.

"We're making their day if even just for a little bit," James reminded them. He gently shook his head. "There's nothing I enjoy more than being able to make people smile. Even when we're doing meet and greets for our shows and they last for a few seconds, seeing the smile on each of their faces is definitely worth it."

"And very humbling," Logan agreed. "Not all of them have the same privileges as everyone else so being able to see us in show is something that makes their life and we want to be sure to make it an amazing experience for them."

"Are you sure you're doing it for the kids? 'Cause it sounds like you're trying to stoke you ego," Riley commented, a knee brought up to her chest. Kendall gave his girlfriend a disapproving look and she shrugged. "I didn't mean anything by it," she defended herself, rubbing her arm. Her nervous habit, as Katie noticed over the years. They were probably more freaked out than any of them were outwardly showing. The abuse they went through had sent them to the hospital and doctor's offices more often than any of them would have liked. The thought alone was enough to make them somewhat revert to their old selves. "It just slipped out." She then scratched the side of her neck. "Ultimately you're all right, being able to make those kids smile a little is all that any of us can ask for and it's flattering they wanted to see us so badly." She glanced at her siblings, dropping her arm.

"Don't worry, Ri-Ri," Sydney said, patting his eldest sister on the arm. "Everything'll be OK. No worries." And even when he sat back in his seat he chewed his bottom lip, his cheeks puffing out a little.

Katie looked around the table once more. At least she wasn't the only one that was nervous. She and her friends continued to eat until it was time for them to go to the hospital. Katie followed along behind the boys, climbing into the passenger seat of the Big Time Rush mobile. She sat in the car, her leg bouncing rapidly, no matter how hard she tried to keep herself calm. Kendall, who was at the wheel, looked over at her before reaching out a hand and placing it on her knee.

"Relax, Baby Sister, everything's going to be fine," he said.

"Can you promise that?" Katie murmured. She ran her hands through her hair, gathering it up into a ponytail then draped it behind her shoulders, allowing her hair to fan over her face. She focused on her breathing and as they arrived at the hospital, she was the first one out of the car. She followed everyone inside, holding her hands behind her back. Once they stepped into the lobby Katie's eyes roamed around.

It didn't look like a hospital to her, the walls were bright, there were stuffed animals sitting in a pile in one corner, underneath a TV that was playing a kid's show. There were posters of smiling children and adults, matching the smiles that were on the faces of the people that walked by them. Katie smiled a little as she watched a boy about her age walk past. He was holding onto an IV bag that was hanging off of a metal pole with wheels attached to the bottom. He smiled and waved at her as he walked by, going over to the counter and speaking with the receptionist before walking over to the play area and sitting down in one of the chairs, kicking back and looking up at the TV.

The receptionist then picked up a clipboard and walked around the desk towards the group, holding her hand out towards James. "You must be Big Time Rush and the DarkElements," she said, shaking each of their hands.

"Blazing Phoenix, actually," Sydney corrected her. "Nice to meet you, miss."

"Nice to meet all of you," The receptionist continued. "I'm glad that Gustavo told you about the opportunity that we had here." She let out a short laugh, clutching the clipboard to her chest, her eyes moving around the group. "He's not here _with _you is he?"

"No," Katie spoke up. "We were afraid that his blood pressure sky rocketing would make the buildings falls down with his next earthquake." Everyone laughed including the receptionist, though she looked a little worried as well. Her eyes moved over the clipboard in her hand. "Alright, well, I have room assignments for you guys and, we'll start with…Katie?"

"That's me." Katie held up her hand, taking a step forward.

The receptionist turned to Katie, placing a hand on her shoulder. "It's great that you're here, Sally has been so excited all week to meet you."

"Really?" Katie's eyebrows rose.

"Yeah, she's been talking about you every day since we found out that you would be coming by. Her room is number 112, it's just that way." The receptionist pointed down a hallway where a couple of doctors walked by. "The only rule that I have is that you make sure she says it's ok to hug her before you do so, it's easy to catch colds and get sick around here."

"Alright." Katie hesitated a moment, turning when she felt a hand move into her own and squeeze it tightly. She glanced at Patrick, who was standing at her side.

"How ya going?" He asked her, the two tuning out as the receptionist continued on with the room assignments.

"I was going to ask you the same thing," Katie said. She laughed, feeling Patrick's hand shake in hers. He jumped and moved out of the way as a doctor briskly walked past them. His eyes were darting around, though he didn't appear to be as anxious as he was at other doctor's offices or hospitals. "You look like you're going to jump out of your skin."

"I would if I had the chance," Patrick admitted. He scratched the back of his head. "But I have to remember that being here isn't for me it's for them." He paused, his eyes narrowing for a second. "In a way, it's for me, too. I know what it's like to be in here. It's not fun."

"I didn't think it was," Katie sympathized. She squeezed Patrick's hand before standing on her tip-toes and giving him a kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you later." She pointed a finger into his face. "And I don't want to have to chase you down and drag you back to a room."

Patrick feigned innocence. "That only happened once."

"And it was still embarrassing." She reached out and gently smacked him on the stomach before turning on her heel and walking to the room that she had been directed to. Every room she passed that had its door open she would peek inside for a moment. Many of the patients were sleeping quietly, peacefully. Others were playing handheld games, were watching TV, or were talking to the nurses that were checking their vitals. She noticed, though, they all appeared happy; none of them looked like they were said.

Katie walked up to the room and knocked on the door. She placed her hands on her hips then held them behind her back, then crossed her arms, then placed them on her hips once more. She rocked back and forth on her heels for a moment before hearing a quiet, "come in," being called from the other side of the door.

Katie took a deep breath and eased her hand towards the doorknob. She placed her hand on it and rotated the knob down, pushing the door open. She poked her head into the room first before looking around. It was a total girl's room. There were brightly colored cards lining the window sill, balloons gently floated at the ceiling, flowers sat on the desk, filling the room with a spring scented fragrance. Peeking towards the closet, Katie would see a few dresses hanging off of their hangers.

"Hello?"

"Katie! You're really here!"

Katie turned to the left and spotted a bald girl about her age sitting in bed. Once her gray eyes landed on Katie, they light up and Sally sat up, slowly pushing herself back towards the headboard of her bed. She placed her hands into her lap, smiling brightly at the brunette as she walked into the room.

Katie opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to figure out what to say. It was rude, but she couldn't stop staring at the girls' head. It was strange for her to see someone who looked to be so full of life without any hair. Her cheeks were a little sunken in, she appeared exhausted but she had an air of a fighting spirit around her. Sally, noticing Katie's stare, lovingly ran a hand over her head. "It saves a lot of time in the morning," she joked.

"Yeah," Katie said. She quickly slapped her hands over her face. "Oh, I'm sorry, that sounded so stupid. I didn't mean that—"

"It's ok." Sally laughed. She crossed her arms, leaning back. "When you have what I have, you learn how to laugh at yourself and try to make things as normal as they can be." She shrugged, the corners of her mouth lifting in a smug smile. "I've learned that it's better to make my visitors feel as comfortable as they can before they start feeling sorry for me." She held out a hand towards Katie. Katie looked down at it for a moment.

_What if she gets really sick? _Katie thought, suddenly panicking. _I don't want to make her life any worse than it is; being here…_Katie slowly reached out to grab Sally's hand. She lifted her eyes and Sally gave her a friendly smile, closing the gap and shaking her hand firmly. "Whoa!" Katie blurted. "You have a strong grip."

"You have to," Sally said with a laugh. She ran her hand over her bald head once more, more like a habit, a part of her personality than it being a show of how much she missed her hair. "You have to be positive, have a strong personality, laugh at the funny things, and smile at the little things to be able to make it in life." She lightly knocked herself on the forehead. "I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Sally McKnight."

Katie beamed. "McKnight? That's so cool!"

"I know! When I first heard your last name I thought it was fate. We were destined to be friends."

Katie walked over to the bed and gently pulled herself up onto it. Her sandals fell to the floor so she turned and crossed her legs, sitting Indian style in front of Sally. She suddenly felt self-conscious, incredibly small compared to Sally's big personality. She was the one that was so happy and excited to see Katie, as if they had been best friends for years. And here Katie was, struggling to find something that wasn't offensive to say.

"It's alright," Sally reassured her. "You can ask me whatever you want." She held up her hands. "Actually, I'll start. I have thyroid cancer, my head does get cold, and I'm currently going under radiation chemotherapy so many days I feel like crap, but you chose a great day to come by because I feel amazing!" She sang the last word, doing a vibrato on the 'g' of the word.

Katie threw her head back and laughed. "And you're not shy, there's that."

"Life's too short to be shy," Sally said.

"If that's the case…" Katie paused, chewing her lower lip. "Why did you want me to come see you? I mean, you could have had anyone. Heck,"—she gestured with her hand—"you could have had my brother come in here to fawn all over you, yet you want to see me."

"I'll admit, I am a rusher," Sally continued. She sniffed and for a moment she closed her eyes, as if exhaustion hit her. Katie waited patiently, if not a little anxiously. What was she to do if there was some sort of emergency? Glancing over at Sally once more, she felt a wave of warm comfort wash over her. What was she so worried about? This girl had more spunk and drive than anyone she had known and this girl was sick, a lot sicker than she had known anyone to be. Even when tired, Katie could see something radiating off of Sally, some sort of a golden aura that reassured anyone that came into her room. "And I do love the guys' band, but I wanted to meet you more than them because we're so much alike. And you seem like a really cool girl to hang out with. I know a lot of people would jump at the chance to meet a celebrity, but how many people get to meet the celebrity's normal sibling."

"I ask Syd that all the time," Katie joked. "He seems to be the only sane one out of them all. Apart from Julius anyway."

"I'm sure they're not that bad," Sally replied.

"No, they're all cool. Noah and I hang out a lot, Rhu and I like to play soccer and practice photography, Syd is a cool kid, they're all just... rambunctious." Katie took a quick breath then smiled. "And you're right," Katie said. "I _am _cool." She tucked some hair behind her ear. "How old are you?"

"Sixteen," Sally replied. "My birthday is actually this weekend.

"Happy early birthday, then," Katie said. She raised a finger, giving Sally a warning look. "Don't ask me to sing for you, that talent starts and ends with Kendall. I sound like a drowning cat." She placed a hand on her chest and mimed screeching like a cat and the two collapsed into giggles. "Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"Two older brothers and they suck." Sally's nose wrinkled. She dramatically threw an arm over her forehead, letting the back of her hand rest against her eyebrows. "You wouldn't _believe _how growing up with them is so difficult. They always get in the way of everything." She leaned forward, eyes widening as she looked at Katie. "How do you live with four boys?"

"It's so hard," Katie said squeezing her eyes shut. Every embarrassing moment, everything they broke, ruined, tarnished, messed up, everything they had helped her through, helped her with, and caused flashed through her mind like a slideshow. There were more moments where she rolled her eyes, called the boys an idiot, or slapped her hands over her face. They were pains in the butt more often than not, but they were still her brothers. "James is always getting in the way of my dating life—"

"Oh right, you have a boyfriend!" Sally giggled. "How's that going?"

"Fine," Katie said. She could feel herself blush. "He's really cute, really funny. I just think, sometimes, that he'd want to be with someone who has more experience dating, but we're having fun together."

Sally spread her hands, giving Katie a 'duh' look. "What's more fun than being first boyfriend and girlfriend together? You can go through all of that nervous stuff together rather than think you're doing something wrong." She held up a hand, giving a thumbs up. "My boyfriend and I are the same way. He's my first and we act like total dorks with each other."

"Then you'd definitely fit in with us," Katie said. "We're nothing but dorks."

"I know." Sally grinned. "I've seen the tour videos. You all seem to get in trouble a lot."

"Blame the Jacksons for that," Katie warned. "Actually, I blame Riles more often than not, she's usually the first to get bored and she's usually the mastermind behind everything they do." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Between you and me, I think Kendall gets annoyed about that sometimes. He hasn't met anyone who came up with plans just as easily if not quicker, than he could before he met her."

Sally drew a heart over her chest. "Secret's safe with me." She suddenly pushed back the covers on her bed and brought a wheelchair close to her. She glanced at Katie out of the corner of her eye. "Don't mind me, just need to get out of the bed for a while." She nodded over towards the window; outside there was a good view of a tiny park and a baseball diamond. "D'you mind opening the window?"

Katie walked over and grabbed the latch at the top. She pulled it up then placed her hands on the glass, pushing up, sliding the window pane up as high as she could. Sally wheeled over to Katie's side, resting her arms on the windowsill. She sucked in a deep breath as a gentle breeze blew. Katie stood by her side, her skirt ruffling around her legs as she did so. She looked over at Sally before closing her eyes as well, allowing the wind to blow around the two of them, filling the room with the scents of flowers and the oak trees around the building.

"Don't you just love the smell of the wind?" Sally asked. She sucked in a large breath through her nose, releasing it all at once. "It makes me feel like anything is possible." She opened her eyes, still looking out over the baseball diamond. "I've been in this hospital for about five months now, and even if it's cloudy or storming, I always sit by the window at least twice a day. It helps me forget sometimes."

"I think the forest you have growing in here does that as well," Katie teased, looking at all of the sunflowers that were on the desk.

"Yellow is my favorite color," Sally explained, a little sheepishly. "It reminds me of the sun and it warms me up whenever the sun isn't out. That's why sunflowers are my favorite, so I can always have the sun with me."

"They're Kendall's favorites too," Katie said.

"What about you? What's your favorite flower?"

"I don't know, I always thought having a favorite flower was kind of silly. I mean, it's a flower right?"

"Yeah, it's a flower, but it's not just a flower. Its life, it grows and lives and dies just as we all do. Except they get dumped into the trash and we all get ceremonies that millions of people that we don't realize we've touched end up." Sally shrugged. "And they get to eat all of the good food while we're in heaven. Katie laughed. Sally frowned. "I can't say that I haven't gotten depressed at times. I sit here and wonder, 'why me?'. Why did I have to be one of the people that got this disease while all of my friends are running around living out their life to the fullest? I was a cheerleader and I loved it. I didn't think what was going on was so serious. I thought I was tired from all of the practices and competitions we were going to. When I heard the news, when I thought of my hair falling out, I cried for days. I cried as long as I could cry and even when I stopped producing tears I still cried. But then I stopped to think about how many people I was going to disappoint, how many people I was going to hurt if I didn't fight back and that gave me strength."

Katie shook her head, wiping away the tears that pooled her eyes. She tried hard to hide it, but her sniffling gave her away. She closed her eyes, allowing the tears to fall down her cheeks. Sally leaned over and grabbed a tissue off of the desk and handed it over to Katie. Katie wiped at her eyes as they continuously filled with tears. "You're so brave," she murmured.

"No I'm not," Sally denied. "Soldiers and Navy men are brave." She smiled peacefully. "I'm just living as long as I can." Her eyes suddenly lit up. "Hey, do you want to see the dress I picked out for Prom?" She wheeled around Katie over to the closet. Using the handle of her chair she pushed the door open and reached up, grabbing a dress off the rack. She turned it around and held it against her. It was a yellow, strapless dress with black beading on the front. "It's totally me, right?"

"Right," Katie agreed. "That's such a pretty dress." She walked over and admired it. "I love it! I bet the shoes are just as cool." She thought for a moment. "The Palm Woods is having their prom in a couple of months; maybe you'd like to go."

"Deal," Sally agreed. "We can have a double date with our boyfriends and laugh at how bad they are at dancing."

"Patrick's a good dancer."

"We can laugh at my boyfriend then, it'll be a good bonding experience." Katie and Sally laughed as she replaced the dress and moved over to the desk, picking up a square packet. "Do you want to play cards?"

"Poker?" Katie's eyebrows ticked upwards. "It's the only game I play."

"Me too," Sally agreed. She started to wheel herself over to Katie, and then stopped, hearing a knock at the door. She turned around and spotted a nurse standing in the doorway, smiling at the two girls. "Hey Anna!"

"Hi Sally, how are you doing today?" Anna asked, walking inside.

"I'm great," Sally replied. She nodded over to Katie. "Katie and I were just going to start a game of poker!" She rapidly raised and lowered her eyebrows. "Are you feeling lucky?"

"Definitely not," Anna said. She gave the girls a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry but visiting hours are going to end soon, I have to ask you to leave. You can have your poker game another time and I'll even ask Ed to come and play. You know he doesn't care when you take all of his money."

"A man after my own heart," Sally joked.

"Well,"—Katie smoothed out her skirt, disappointed—"I guess I have to get going."

"Bye, Katie!" Sally beamed at the brunette as she rolled back in her wheelchair, giving Katie space to leave the room. "Thanks for coming to see me, you really made my day."

"You're welcome!" Katie waved, moving towards the door. She paused in the doorway then turned back around to the patient. She was sitting in the chair, the warmest and brightest smile Katie had ever seen on the girls' face. Here she was, sitting in a wheelchair with legs that were too weak to hold her up, battling thyroid cancer, and she was all smiles. Her smile was contagious; Katie found her heart swelling with pride for the girl. "I'll come back and visit, I promise."

"Great." Sally's eyes disappeared behind her cheeks she was smiling so hard. "I can't wait." She ran a hand over her bald head, laughing a little. "I'll show you my wig collection next time. Even you'll be jealous when you see how many I've managed to get over the years."

"Bye." Katie smiled and waved at Sally once more before walking out of the room, heading back to the lobby. She spotted her brother and walked over to him. The two sat down in chairs that lined the lobby walls. Katie sat down in a chair and looked up at her brother, noticing the wide smile that was on his face as well.

"I get it," she said. Kendall looked at her. "I get why you always like to see your fans so much. I know why you like to talk to them on any piece of social media you can." She turned so that she was facing him completely. "Why you help out the Salvation Army every year around Thanksgiving. It's to see the smiles on their faces and know that you've made their day."

Kendall chuckled, leaning over and giving his sister a kiss on the back of the head. "Something like that, Baby Sister," he said. He looked up, waving at a little boy that walked by on crutches, his parents flanking either side of them. Though he didn't notice Kendall's gesture, the excitement in his eyes was unmistakable.

He was probably getting out that day.

Kendall pulled his phone out of his pocket then leaned over, holding the phone out into the air. Katie leaned in and smiled brightly as he took a picture of the two of them. She settled back in her seat as Kendall uploaded the photo to the internet, one of twenty for that afternoon alone, then turned his attention back to his little sister.

"You really helped her today," Kendall continued.

"No." Katie shook her head. "She helped me.


End file.
